Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In large mixing bowl, rub together the sugar and the lemon zest with your fingers. This will allow the lemon oil from the zest to release and infuse the sugar with lemon flavor. Your sugar will start to clump together and a bit and should smell lemon-y.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the lemon sugar. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Keeping all your ingredients cold will help to produce a fluffy, thick, and buttery scone. Using a pastry cutter cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. If the butter is feeling melted or warm, stick the mixing bowl in the freezer for a couple of minutes to keep the butter cold.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, 6 tablespoons of the heavy cream, and the vanilla extract. Add the mixture to the the dry ingredients and stir until combined. The dough shouldn’t be wet, but should stick together so you can easily form a disk. If the dough is too dry or crumbly add in a tablespoon of cream at a time until the dough comes together.
5. Last, add the poppyseeds, turning the dough a few times to evenly distribute the seeds. Do not overwork your dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a 9 inch circle with your hands. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but try to keep it consistent in terms of thickness.
7. Using a sharp knife cut the circle into 8 wedges, placing them about 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet.
8. Place a small amount of cream in a bowl and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the scones. Bake at 400°F for about 25-30 minutes or until the scones are just starting to brown at the edges and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
9. While the scones cool, make the lemon icing. Combine the lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon of cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl and use a whisk to combine. If the frosting is too dry, add the remaining Tablespoon of cream.
10. Once the scones are cool, spoon the lemon icing over each scone and sprinkle with poppyseeds. Enjoy with some butter and tea! Scones will keep well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to a month!